Dubai: Canon Middle East has launched a series of employee-led projects inspired by the UAE’s ‘Year of Giving’ initiative and the global One Million Acts of Kindness mission.

Developed under an overarching campaign called ‘Follow Your Happiness,’ Canon’s initiatives target its employees by giving them the opportunity to become active members within their own work environment as well as the larger community.

Anurag Agrawal, managing director of Canon Middle East, said the campaign is “driven by the three pillars of Future, Youth and Happiness to coincide with the themes the UAE government enforces on a nationwide level. Together, the three pillars create an interconnected Canon ecosystem for our campaign led by the participation and contribution of our employees”.

Each time an employee participates in any activity within the three pillars, Canon contributes Dh400 to donate to two charities by the end of 2017.

In addition, as part of the Youth pillar, an internship programme was developed to give opportunities to fresh graduates to work within Canon.

The second pillar, Future, allows Canon to provide tools for its employees to be more creative and innovative in their work — the company will soon launch an Innovation Hub.

“Within the third Happiness pillar, we created a supportive and happy environment internally within Canon, so our employees can then spread it outwards to the community. We did this through a series of meaningful projects such as volunteering opportunities, corporate social responsibility initiatives, cultural activities, health and fitness programmes, and more importantly a complete Canon office overhaul. The office renovation certainly increased creativity, productivity and above all, employee satisfaction with their work environment,” added Agrawal.

This Ramadan, Canon employees participated in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity by distributing giveaways to people who donated blood, to show appreciation for their participation and support.

Another campaign saw Canon participating in is Du’s annual Mawaed Al Rahman initiative, which packs and distributes food boxes to families in need during Ramadan. This year, Canon’s employees participated in packing 120 boxes to reach 40 families.

The two programmes came in line with Zayed Humanitarian Day, which is commemorated on the 19th of Ramadan every year.